


Of Chocolates and Secret Valentine's

by tasteslikeciel



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Ai is savage, Aoi/Miyu is in the background tbh, F/F, M/M, also Ryoken doesn't actually show up because he's a loser but ye, might continue this maybe idk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-28 02:48:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17779148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tasteslikeciel/pseuds/tasteslikeciel
Summary: Playmaker keeps receiving random love notes and digital trinkets in his mailbox from an encrypted source, who doesn’t see fit to leave a name or any clues as to who they are. With Link VRAINS currently wrapped up in a big Valentine’s extravaganza, Yusaku wants to assume it’s just from an enthusiastic fan with enough coding knowledge to bypass the simple lock firewall he placed on his mailbox.And, well, he’s not wrong.





	Of Chocolates and Secret Valentine's

**Author's Note:**

> The summary ended up being more a prelude to this part than anything else. //brick'd
> 
> Happy Valentine's Day!

From atop his perch on a nearby building, Playmaker can see down into the main plaza of Link VRAINS’ capital city. It was always originally meant to resemble Den City’s layout, right down to having nearly identical landmarks, buildings, and even a few commercial establishments, only more idealized and catered to appeal to fellow duelists. Today, however, it’s like something out of Alice in Wonderland with the way buildings have shifted into tall cakes with chocolate or strawberries dripping down their sides. The streets themselves have turned into golden-brown cookie roads dusted with white sugar and pink glitter and decorations have changed into various sized hearts with chocolate candies littering the streets and floating around in the air. Some duelists have turned jumping up to eat the candies into a game and others have tried to eat parts of the cake buildings, just to see if they can.

And SOL made a grave mistake in deciding that they can.

“Yeesh. Did a bakery explode?”

Playmaker glances down at his wrist briefly to see Ai lazily draped over his duel disk, one arm propping up his face and the other dangling over the side.

“I didn’t know you humans liked chocolate this much.” Ai continues when Playmaker doesn’t offer up a response. “It’s _everywhere_!”

Playmaker shrugs a little and toes at the fudge-coated floor under his feet. Surprisingly, it does move and bunches up in a big, satisfying chocolate gloop before reforming like he never touched it at all. It doesn’t leave any residue on his suit either, which is a bonus.

“SOL likes grandiose events.” he says simply and pushes at the fudge again. “The more ridiculous, the better.”

“Blegh.” If Ai had a tongue, he would have stuck it out in distaste. Instead, his face squishes into something vaguely sick looking. “I like sweets, too, but this is _waaaaayyy_ too much!”

For once, they can agree on something. Playmaker never really eats sweets as they’re a bit much on his stomach, but sometimes he does, if it’s offered, if it’s not too sweet. Otherwise, his general stance is to not bother with them. The coming couple holiday has made things hard on him, though, because while he’s barely noticed in real life, in Link VRAINS, Playmaker is incredibly popular and much like with Blue Angel, _everyone_ wants him to be their event partner. He’s been receiving random gifts and love letters in his mailbox for the past couple of days from usernames he’s never even heard of. The event makes it possible to send mail to people not on their friends list, so he and her and even Soulburner have all been suffering the effects of having bloated mailboxes overflowing with cookies and candy. Eventually, to save his own sanity, he just tossed a minor firewall onto his mailbox and offered the same to his friends. His notifications have been blissfully silent ever since.

Well, kind of.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Links VRAINS! Is everyone having fun so far?” comes Blue Angel’s cheery shout from the center of the plaza. A colorful crowd of people surrounding her erupt into cheers and she beams, pleased with the response. She holds the microphone in her hands close to her mouth again and continues. “Don’t forget to send that special someone a gift before the day is up because tomorrow is the big Valentine’s Day couple event! Participating couples are eligible to attend the Valentine Love Park, where big prizes await the winners including an all-expenses paid special date night!”

Playmaker doesn't know how she does it, most days. She can stand there, up on stage, and wield a microphone as well as she can a deck of cards. She’s cheerful and excitable, bubbly and full of energy, but strong-willed and unafraid to speak her mind to total strangers. Blue Angel is every idol and card game lovers’ dream wrapped up into one baby blue package and while her real self, Zaizen Aoi, isn’t nearly as excitable, is much more quiet, and hardly wastes time on strangers, she’s still just as strong. Perhaps that’s why she can do this kind of thing. Even still, it looks exhausting. Playmaker could never do something like that, not willingly.

The crowd’s cheers grow louder in response to this announcement and Blue Angel continues to look pleased. She lowers her microphone and fluffs up her special event dress just a little and then adjusts the strawberry-iced cake hat tied atop her head with a brown ribbon. The dress she’s wearing is a similar model to her typical idol outfit, but the colors have all changed to incorporate browns and pinks instead of the blues everyone is used to. There’s white ruffles peeking out from underneath her skirt and polka dots and stripes pattern her dress. Around her neck, there’s even a little golden necklace with a chocolate pendant in the shape of a heart that has a tiny pink bow in the corner.

He only knows this because Miyu wanted his and Takeru’s opinion on it beforehand, as she had been debating on digital gift options related to the event. The moment SOL announced plans for a big Valentine’s Day event happening within Link VRAINS, Miyu hopped on the holiday bandwagon, determined to be the one Blue Angel picked as her event partner. And now? Well, Aoi never wanted to participate, but Blue Angel’s fans will be disappointed when the park opens and Miyu is by her side instead of one of them.

He finally looks away, attention returning to the chocolate under his feet.

“Why are we here anyway?” Ai asks. He straightens up to plop down on his bottom, legs kicking out over the duel disk’s side as he leans back on his hands. “Aren’t you allergic to people or something?”

A split second later, Ai’s expression turns mischievous as a thought strikes him and he turns a knowing look up at Playmaker. “Or does this have something to do with your secret lover, Yusaku-chan~?”

 _This._ This is exactly why he told Ai to stay at home because he knew the moment the subject even came up that he would start teasing him about it incessantly. He can already feel the beginnings of a headache forming and stops pushing the fudge around to glare at Ai.

“Shut up.” he replies, tone only a halfhearted type of harsh. Between Ai and Kusanagi, he receives enough teasing to last him three lifetimes. “I have personal business to deal with. That’s all. Go bother Flame.”

Ai chuckles, the beginnings of an evil squint to his eyes forming.

“Personal business, eh?” he repeats and Playmaker realizes he’s said the wrong thing. “Heh heh~ Look at my little Yusaku-chan. He’s all grown up and ready to rub data ports with a handsome stranger~”

_“I will hand deliver you to SOL myself.”_

“Aw, come on, don’t be like that!” Ai hops up to his feet and opens his arms wide to gesture at their overly confectionery surroundings. “It’s Valentine’s Day, Playmaker-sama! Where’s your luv duv spirit at?”

Playmaker gives him a deadpan stare. As if he even needs to say it. They both know he doesn’t celebrate the holidays and would much rather wrap himself up like a blanket burrito than be social.

Ai huffs and deflates a little. “Jeez. You’re no fun.”

Ai grumbles but otherwise goes quiet, much to Playmaker’s relief. The fates don’t seem to have him in their favor today, however, because barely a few seconds pass when suddenly a bell chimes and a shiver vibrates up Ai’s tiny body, a sign that Playmaker has received something in his mailbox.

“You’ve got mail?” Ai says, a bit bewildered as he squints down at the duel disk. “Didn’t you put a new firewall on this thing?”

Playmaker stares down at the device with a questioning expression himself. He had, in fact, redone his firewall to be much stronger than before, but that doesn’t seem to have had any affect on his secret Valentine. They once again bypassed it, proving themselves to be more advanced with handling code than he cares for. It’s suspicious and a little concerning, but something about the way the notes they send are written sparks a familiarity in him that he can’t quite touch on. While part of him wishes they would stop, the other is deathly curious and wants to keep receiving them, if for no other reason than to solve the puzzle of who they are. It’s the main reason he even logged into his Playmaker account today. He was so sure they would send him something else and he was right.

Still, it’s ridiculous. This person has gone to such great lengths to break apart his multiple complicated firewalls all just to send him stupid chocolates and vague little love notes proclaiming a desire to be his Valentine and partner in the event. It feels like a waste of coding skill, honestly. They never even give him a name, which seems like such a huge oversight, all things considered.

“You gonna open it?”

At the sound of Ai’s curious tone, he releases a breath he doesn’t realize he's holding. He sighs and begrudgingly flicks a finger through the air to open his mailbox to see what latest gift his mailbox stalker sent him this time. As expected, it’s yet another chocolate heart. This one, however, is bigger, made of white chocolate, and is decorated on all sides with flecks of red and pink. Along with it is a single golden earring with a blue diamond on top and a chocolate heart dangling from the end. Lying atop these is a small card with golden, embossed letters, inviting him to the coming Valentine Love Park.

The earring is likely meant to be worn as a sign he accepts the proposal (a similar case with Blue Angel’s necklace), but something about its design makes him stare at it for longer than necessary. He doesn’t particularly remember seeing this in the event gift catalogue Miyu showed him...

“Oooo~” Ai coos, face squishing up into amusement. It’s the kind of face he makes when there’s some kind of lewd joke sitting on the tip of his metaphorical tongue. “Lover-kyun wants a date~”

His tone is singsong and cutesy and Playmaker really wishes the A.I. had just spent the day with Roboppi or Flame instead.

“Shut up.” he mumbles and inspects the rest of the mail.

There’s an actual message here and although reading it will only give Ai further fuel to tease him with, he’s...well, he’s curious. Just who is this person that they would go to such lengths just for a chance to send him gifts and then not bother with a name?

“...hm?”

The note reads:

**_Another firewall? Are my gifts really that boresome? You wound me, Playmaker._ **

And that’s it. No last minute confessions of devotion or requests to meet up. Just a somewhat playful tease in three, short sentences and nothing more. It’s nothing like their earlier notes. Granted, their earlier ones were just as short and didn’t delve too deeply into the typical mushy love spiel, but they did always mention something they liked about him or how the event itself is kind of stupid but the opportunity to shower him in gifts is too good to pass up on.

Somehow, he’s disappointed.

“Lover-kyun’s gifts are top-tier, but their love notes suck.” Ai says, suddenly poised near Playmaker’s shoulder as he peeks down at the note. He then squints, points at the note, and turns to give Playmaker a stern look. “You can date them, but until they improve on the romance, no sex until they can make you swoon with desire.”

Despite himself, Playmaker’s eyes widen a bit at that, cheeks feeling slightly warmer than before. “Sh, shut up! It’s not, it’s not like that… I don’t even _know_ them.”

“Seriously. Reply back to this guy.” Ai continues but pauses and hums. “Or girl or...you know, whatever. Them. Reply back to them already. That’s the whole reason we’re here, isn’t it?”

_“Go home.”_

Ai stands up straight, hands on his hips, and tuts. “ _Look_. You want to figure out who this loser is, right? Then you have to show initiative! Tell Lover-kyun to reveal themselves or you’ll ban their IP address!”

Somehow, he doubts an IP ban would work against whoever this is, but as his attention returns to the note, he realizes Ai has a point. Not once has he sent a reply back. Despite that, his secret Valentine continues to send him gifts, unaffected by his silence, perhaps in hopes he’ll actually say something to one of them.

With the climax of the event happening tomorrow, would they suddenly stop after it all ends and Link VRAINS returns to normal? Would it bother him to never learn who his secret Valentine is when something about them seems so familiar?

“...I guess.” he says quietly in hesitant admittance.

Ai nods his head encouragingly, taking his quiet words as an answer to his suggestion. “Then just do it! Tell them to up their game! Cause, let me tell ya, this isn’t a love note that’s going to get them laid.”

Playmaker reaches over and slams his hand down over the mute button, for all the good it would do. Eventually, Ai would work his way through it to annoy him further, but, at least for a few minutes, he won't have to suffer through anymore lewd comments.

“I told you to shut up.”

Ai flails his arms around in an angry huff, but Playmaker pays him no mind and taps at the message to begin penning a reply. Only he hesitates, at first, because he’s not sure what to say. He has no intentions of return flirting, doesn't even know how to flirt to begin with. Eventually, he decides being blunt and to the point is his best and only real option.

_Who are you? Stop breaking through my firewalls. It’s annoying to remake them._

He hits the send button and doesn’t miss the way Ai slaps a hand over his own face, expression looking exasperated as he stares up at him.

“What am I supposed to say?” Playmaker defends. “I don’t know who this is.”

Ai merely flails his arms, because that’s all he can do, and continues to look exasperated with Playmaker being Playmaker and not understanding how basic human interaction works. Playmaker just huffs at him.

A moment or two later, another chime rings in his ears and Ai vibrates again, looking a little put off with it but he stands at attention and stares at the new message icon expectantly. Playmaker flicks a finger over the new message to open it and they both begin to read.

**_I wouldn’t have to break them if you would stop making them. I’ve mentioned this before, but I want to be your event partner. I can’t do that if you keep avoiding me._ **

Again, there’s no mention of their identity. In fact, they purposefully say nothing about it and Ai gestures at the message with his brow contorted into confusion and sends him this unhappy look. Playmaker’s eyes narrow at the message a bit and he quickly types up another reply.

_It’s hard to avoid someone I don’t know the identity of. You do realize I’ve received tons of event chocolate already, right? What makes you special?_

**_Ah but you haven’t said yes to anyone either, have you? The fact you’re even talking to me right now means you’re interested in learning who I am. Am I wrong?_ **

_Maybe I have, maybe I haven’t. Wouldn’t it be easier to just tell me who you are? This seems unnecessary._

**_Honestly, I would have, but then you went and blocked your mailbox and now I’m committed to the secret admirer clich_** **_é_ ** **_. What else was I to do? I doubt you’d be very open to gifts in the real world._ **

Playmaker blinks at that, an odd feeling pooling in his gut.

_What are you saying? I don’t even know you._

It takes a moment longer for them to respond and Playmaker worries, the feeling in his stomach growing by the second.

**_Are you sure about that?_ **

“Uh, not to worry you or anything?” Ai speaks up for the first time in a while, apparently having finally worked his way around being muted. “But it sounds like this guy might know who you really are...”

And that’s what he’s worried about. He has no idea who this person is, but if they know who he is outside of Link VRAINS, that he’s Fujiki Yusaku, then this whole thing could have been an overly complicated ruse from the start. However, their last message is strange. Let’s say, for a moment, he takes it at face value and this is someone he actually does know. Who would that be? There’s not too many that could hack their way through a firewall except for a handful of individuals and even less that he can say he honestly has some form of relationship with as just Yusaku. But why--

Another notification rings and another message appears in his mailbox.

**_If I were to give you three reasons to go out with me, would you listen?_ **

“Oh, _ohhh._ Wow. Okay. Definitely still a loser, but at least he’s a hot one.” Ai chimes in. He reaches over to pat Playmaker’s cheek encouragingly. “And hey, that was actually kind of romantic! Lucky you, Yusaku-chan~”

Playmaker can barely register Ai’s words because the icky feeling in his gut has transformed into a fluttery feeling in his chest and it’s hard to focus on anything else but the warmth he feels spreading through his cheeks.

Of all people, it’s _him_? Hanoi’s devilish leader, Revolver? His special person, Ryoken?

“He’s gotta work on his line delivery though.” Ai continues, arms crossing as he examines the message. “You two could have had a whirlwind romance going on these past few days if he had just said who he was from the start. Tell him he sucks at courtship.”

“This isn’t one of your dramas.” Still, it really would have been far easier to outright state who he was from the start. “I’m sure he has a good reason for it.”

Even saying that, he’s unsure. This is honestly very unlike him. He’s left him messages in random places at times, but he’s always been upfront that they were all from him and not someone else.

_Revolver?_

**_Do I have a chance with the infamous Playmaker now that I’ve outed myself?_ **

Playmaker’s head tilts, eyebrows knitting in a confused stare.

_Why did you hide your identity from me?_

**_As I said, I was caught up in the clich_** **_é._ **

_That’s not really an answer._

It takes Revolver an awfully long time to respond again, so much so that Playmaker almost thinks he’s gone offline. Eventually another one does reach him, though, and once he reads it, he realizes why the reply took so long.

**_I was a bit too nervous to approach you with this in person since neither of us are really into holidays. So I didn’t. I suppose I let this spiral out of control by falling back on old habits._ **

“I guess even that guy can be cute sometimes.” Ai comments with a snicker.

 _A little._ Playmaker hesitates a moment before continuing to type. _But it was interesting receiving your gifts all the same. A note for the future, though. I don’t like sweets all that much._

**_Note taken. So, about that last gift, I still want to attend that cheesily named event park with you. We don’t really have to participate in the event itself. I’m actually a little hesitant on that end, but I’ve heard it might make a nice spot to hang out in?_ **

A tiny smile finds it way across Playmaker’s lips at that. He often forgets that Revolver is still very much a teenager himself. It’s easy considering how commanding and closed off he can be, but it’s nice, if not a little funny, to read these notes and feel the sense of hesitance and uncertainty in them.

Does he want to enter that park knowing SOL likely has some terrible, Valentine-themed games in it? No, of course not. But is he going to turn this man who would rather break his way through a firewall out of nerves than be his usual, commanding self down?

He takes a moment to pull the little earring Revolver sent him out and clips it to his right ear. It glimmers and glows when it catches the sun's rays and it feels a little bit weird to wear but not unpleasantly so.

_Is there a reason this earring isn’t in the gift catalogue or did I just overlook it? It’s a little weird just wearing one._

**_I thought it would look nice on you. SOL didn’t have anything that sparked my interest so I modified one of the items._ **

_Isn’t that illegal?_

**_Since when do hackers care about legality?_ **

_A fair point._

It takes another bit of extra time for Revolver to reply again, but when he does, Playmaker has to bite his lip and take a slow, deep breath because _oh_. They’re really doing this, aren't they?

**_Could we meet up somewhere?_ **

He thinks it over carefully and weighs his options. The only reason he even came online was to see if his secret Valentine would send him another gift and also see if he could figure out who they were. That mission is pretty much accomplished and he still has the rest of the afternoon free with nothing particularly pressing. They could meet up somewhere, perhaps talk more about whatever they were doing face-to-face. He’s been interested in Revolver (in Ryoken) for a long time but never thought much would come of it, so having this happen just out-of-the-blue is pretty bizarre.

“ _Oooohhh_ , a secret rendezvous between lovers~ How scandalous!”

Unfortunately, Ai followed him right into Link VRAINS and will absolutely make things worse just from his presence alone. He shudders to think what he might say while in Revolver’s presence. Something that'll get him deleted, most likely.

“Go home, Ai.”

Ai snickers to himself but holds up his tiny hands in surrender.

“Hey, I know when to butt out~ I’ll go, I’ll go.” he pats Playmaker’s cheek again and then gives him a thumbs up. “My little Yusaku-chan can’t have his USB port entered with a third wheel around, after all~”

Mortified, Playmaker tries to shove Ai off his shoulder, but Ai is too quick and hops away to dive straight into the duel disk.

“Ride that data, Playmaker-sama~!”

**Author's Note:**

> I actually did want to continue this and delve deeper into the event itself, have Miyu/Aoi dominating the event, more Datestorm fluff, and so on, but I'm not sure how it would go or if I could even finish it before Valentine's is up. If I do, I'll post it at a later date, but for now, this is it. lol
> 
> Part of me wants to include more but from Ryoken's perspective tbh.


End file.
